Month: June 2023
Tour the wreck of the Titanic for $25k!
In 2021, a company called OceanGate Expeditions started taking paying people in submersibles more than three kilometres below the ocean surface to visit the wreckage of the Titanic. On June 19, 2023, a submersible operated by the company went missing, setting off a rescue operation by the US Coast Guard.
KnowALLedge Plus
> The Titanic sank in 1912 on its maiden voyage from England to New York after hitting an iceberg.
> More than 1500 of its 2200 passengers were estimated to have lost their lives.
> In 1985, its wreckage was discovered 600km off the coast of Newfoundland, and lies in two parts, with the bow and the stern separated by about 800m, surrounded by a huge debris field.
Satwik-Chirag wins Indonesian Open
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty add a new feather to their much-adorned caps, as they emerged as champions in the 2023 edition of the Indonesian Open.
While Satwik and Chirag are the first doubles team from India to win at Jakarta, Saina Nehwal (2010, 2012) and Kidambi Srikanth (2017) have both won this BWF Super 1000 event, albeit in the singles category.
KnowALLedge Plus:
Here’s a list of Satwik-Chirag’s laurels since 2022:
India Open (Super 500)
French Open (Super 750)
Thomas Cup Gold
BWF World Championships Bronze
Commonwealth Games Gold
Badminton Asia Championships Gold
Swiss Open (Super 300)
Indonesia Open (Super 1000)
An English word and a Marvel character comes from the name of the “Lord of the World”
This year, the auspicious Rath Yatra was on June 20. Like every year, the wooden forms of the “Lord of the World” Jagannath, Balarama and Subhadra were ceremonially placed on towering chariots and pulled through the streets of Puri by devotees from all over the world.
As colonial Britons encountered this spectacle, they coined the word “Juggernaut”, meaning an unstoppable force, which entered the English language in the early nineteenth century.
KnowALLedge Plus:
In 1963, when Marvel Comics was looking for a new character who possesses superhuman strength and is virtually immune to any kind of attack, it was apt that they chose “The Juggernaut” to make his debut in the X-Men series.
Indian historian’s book wins Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography
‘Rebels Against the Raj: Western Fighters for India’s Freedom’ by Ramachandra Guha has won the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography 2023. It was the twentieth anniversary of the coveted award.
The book tells the story of seven foreigners — four British, Two American, and one Irish, who joined India’s freedom fight against British rule. The list of names includes Annie Besant, B.G. Horniman, Catherine Mary Heilemann, Madeline Slade, Philip Spratt, Richard Ralph Keithahn and Samuel Stokes.
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Elizabeth Longford, whom the award commemorates, herself was a noted biographer of Queen Victoria, Lord Byron and the Duke of Wellington.
RBI Governor wins “Governor of the Year” award in London
Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das has received the ‘Governor of the Year’ at London’s Central Banking Award 2023.
Central Banking is an international economic research journal. The award recognised his role as the RBI chief in managing inflation and skilfully handling India’s banking system during crises like COVID pandemic and global turmoil.
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Das is the second RBI governor to receive the award after Raghuram Rajan, who was given the same title in 2015.
Did you know the World Meteorological Organization names tropical cyclones?
The WMO, the United Nations arm on weather, follows a specific naming convention for cyclones in the Indian Ocean region, including the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, which is different from the naming systems employed in other parts of the world.
According to the WMO, tropical cyclones in the Indian subcontinent are named based on a predetermined list of names suggested by member countries in the region. It’s important to note that the naming lists are shared among the member countries, and the names selected reflect the region’s cultural, social, and meteorological sensitivities. The purpose of naming cyclones is to facilitate easy communication and dissemination of information about these weather events to the public and various stakeholders.
KnowALLedge Plus: The 13 panel countries include: Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. The name ‘Biparjoy was given by Bangladesh. It means ‘calamity’ in the Bengali language. The next cyclone in the area would be called Tej — submitted by India.
Silvio Berlusconi wrote an anthem for AC Milan
In 1986, AC Milan was on the verge of collapse when Silvio Berlusconi took over. The club underwent a sea change with the appointment of Arrigo Sacchi as manager. Back in his academic years, Berlusconi worked as a cruise ship singer. Perhaps his musical prowess came to pass in later years when he wrote an anthem for AC Milan with music producer and pop singer Tony Renis. The controversial billionaire passed away on June 12, 2023 at the age of 86.
KnowALLedge Plus: He sold his stake in the club in 2017, and went on to buy AC Monza.
Five quick facts on the World Test Championship Mace
You must have noticed that the winners of the World Test Championship were given a Mace as a trophy.
Here are five quick facts about the glitzy item:
1. The Mace is handcrafted at luxury brand Thomas Lyte’s silver workshop in London.
2. Thomas Lyte is also the Royal Warrant Holder as goldsmiths and silversmiths to the British royal family.
3. The Mace was introduced by ICC in 2003. It was earlier awarded to the teams finishing as number one in the ICC Men’s Test team rankings.
4. In 2021, New Zealand became the first team to win the silverware in 2021 after the introduction of the World Test Championship.
5. In its earlier avatar, it was India who broke Australia’s monopoly of winning the Mace for six straight years from 2003-09.
It is thus a full circle for the two cricketing rivals that Australia defeated India this time to get hold of the coveted trophy.
OTT platforms asked to show anti-tobacco messages
India is set to become the first country in the world to introduce anti-tobacco warnings shown on any over-the-top (OTT) streaming content under guidelines notified by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. As per the notification released on World No Tobacco Day, publishers of online curated content displaying tobacco products, or their use will be required to display anti-tobacco spots at the beginning and middle of the concerned programme.
KnowALLedge Plus: In 1987, the Member States of the World Health Organization created World No Tobacco Day to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic. Since 1988, it is commemorated on 31st May.